PS3 Gets DivX Support, Coming Soon to Xbox 360

Mpegged writes "The popular DivX video codec will soon be supported on the PlayStation 3 via a future firmware update. DivX CEO Kevin Hell also hinted that support is coming to the 360 as well. 'During the SMid Cap conference call with investment firm JP Morgan, Hell was asked if the recent deal that will see DivX codecs shipped with new versions of Microsoft's standalone Media Center Extenders means that such support will also be arriving on the Xbox 360. "Yes!" was his immediate reply, although he quickly qualified that confirmation with a disclaimer that the deal was still in the negotiation process and had not yet been finalized.'"

Comments

DivX... do people still use that?

[PhrostyMcByte]

Everyone I know uses an XviD or h.264 codec these days. I haven't seen a new DivX video for a couple years.

Re:DivX... do people still use that?

[Wordsmith]

Divx support means the ability to decode those Xvid files (at least in theory). Mpeg-4 Part II, of which both codecs are implementations, is set up so that implementations can vary in their encodes (like, say, two different MP3 encoders would do), decoding should work identically.

Re:DivX... do people still use that?

[Fluffy Bunnies]

No. The two encoders have some mutually incompatible features. Some xvid encodes will work with the divx decoder, while the ones that actually use xvid's good features (like multiple b-frames) simply won't. (unless divx has changed radically in the last year or so)

Re:DivX... do people still use that?

[Shrubbman]

That's simply an issue with Divx's decoder not fully supporting the spec, similar to how certain h.264 encoded videos with some of the more advanced features enabled can't be played back on the ipod. The only reason not to support the full spec in software would be hardware limitations, which shouldn't be an issue for either the PS3 or 360.

Xvid support

[ProfBooty]

The article indicates support for XviD, or at the very least being able to detect XviD files in the PS3 2.0 firmware.

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

h264 comes in many flavors. The PS3 cannot (won't) play anything above level 4.1, although there are rumors of 4.2. Either way, it's not good enough seeing just about every "x264" recording is set to 5.1, which should really be used for ultra-mega-wega HD.

The other issue is the container. The PS3 will not play mkv, and mp4 doesn't like ac3 5.1 sound. Currently you can split the streams apart, try to fudge the video level down to 4.1 and remux to vob format, with an extension the PS3 will accept, say .mpg. However, it's very hit-n-miss.

What we really need is VLC to be on the PS3, and cut out all the crap. xbox360 owners seem to have their own limited support issues, but they're having great success with HD WMV, which sony won't touch.

Re:Definitely The Pr0n...

[king-manic]

It's funny, but you make a good point. Pornography has definitely played a part in the history of media format wars and is credited in part for the win of VHS over Beta. Sony wouldn't allow porn on betamax. More recently, Sony initially refused to allow porn on the Blu-ray format, but I think they have quietly relented on that. So it is not too far fetched to say that DivX support may have something to do with porn. At the very least, the legacy DivX libraries other posters have mentioned may play some role in the decision of support. But, of course, a lot of those libraries probably contain a fair amount of, *ahem*, adult material. It certainly won't hurt PS3 sales!

In the end though, my guess is that adding DivX support is not a huge technological problem, and given the fierce battle Sony and Microsoft are engaged in, each wants as many bullet points as possible. In the end, competition is good for the consumer! Actually both your stories are myths. Beta did in fact have porn on it in every time span VHS did. The myth that it didn't may have been common and motivated people to buy VHS but Beta did indeed have porn. The myth itself is what likely had influence.

HD DVD vs Blu-ray is even less influence due to the wide scale spread of porn on the internet but also because it's untrue. The CEO of Digital Playgrounds (a Porn studio) complained Sony wasn't giving him enough support and claimed Sony didn't want porn on blu-ray at a Porn conference. Immediately afterwards Vivid announced a line up of hd porn for blu-ray. It seems it was just grapes from one studio that wanted more support. It doesn't seem Sony had any ban or policy against porn on blu-ray ever.

Re:Question

[someguy456]

I love my Philips DVP 5960.

The killer feature for me was the front-side USB port, which lets me play movies right off of a flash drive.
Throw in easy region-free hacks + HDMI/1080i support and I've got myself a winner for around $75

Re:PS3 Media Center

[DrXym]

DivX certainly represents the last significant piece in the puzzle. The PS3 already supports MPEG-2, MP4 pt 2 SP, AVC, jpeg, png, MP3, WMA, AAC, ATRAC and has streaming support via UPnP and DNLA. Next year it's getting PVR functionality in some regions and possibly downloadable content from PSN.

I think it's shaping up to be the ultimate multimedia center. The 360 is also making efforts to improve it's multimedia support, but you'd probably have to get the 120Gb to make any decent use of it.

Re:xbmc

[AbRASiON]

I can't believe there's not more posts about this, XBMC is probably the best media server option for low definition there is.
Simple and easy to use, looks good, works well, is now reliable and packed full of features.